cardio and weight training, together--help me!?

[Annam54]

Hellllllooo ladies!!!
I am a 21 yr old f who LOVES training. I am fairly new in the game. I do have some concerns however...If anyone wants to help me out!
For about 2 years I did kick boxing consistently, 4,5 times a week, no weight training. Then b/c of my schooling (policing) I was forced to get strong. I am 5.3 and 110 pounds, so pretty small. I did not have the physical upper body strentgh to pass the tests. Thus, began weight training.
I am confused first of all as to why I never really saw results doing my kick boxing so much? I never really wanted to lose weight, just look better overall.
Now, I have cut my cardio to 2x weekly, and weight training 4x a week. My diet is good, I dont have a specific routine day to day, I just make sure to keep my carbs low and proteins up.
Here is my gym routine:
one-back, tris, abs
two-legs, delts abs
three-chest. bis abs
four-rest
five-repeat back to one
PLUS I include my tae bo as my cardio 2-3 times in b/w....
Any suggestions would be great

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[SweetyPie]

Looks great to me. Are your goals to gain strength still?

[Annam54]

Yeah, I want to gain strength foresure. Already I have noticed an increase in weight lifting, so I feel good about that. I was thinking of just cutting my cardio sessions in half, being a few x a week, but I worry that I might gain weight seeing as how I have consistantly done tae bo for years now...

Thanx for the reply /forum/images/icons/laugh.gif

[President Wilson]

I wouldnt worry too much about gaining weight. If you are interested in strength gains, keep the sets at 70-100 percent of your maximum one rep lifting weight. Most studies point to this being the bracket for maximized strength. If you are just beginning 70 percent of your max might be a high number of repetitions, and will go down as you advance. But thats a good range to stay in. So if your one rep max on the bench is 100 pounds do not go below 70 pounds.

Good luck, and as you stated you might want to cut that cardio in half.

[TheRealButterfly]

I agree with JWilson... if you want to concentrate on building strength cut back your cardio.

Remember... the more muscle you have the more fat you'll burn... so as long as you keep up the weight training and eating clean, you shouldn't gain fat, just muscle!

One more thing... muscle weighs more than fat... so if you see the scale go up, don't panic, just remember it's all that nice lean muscle you're putting on /forum/images/icons/grin.gif

[sicily1962]

[ QUOTE ]
My diet is good, I dont have a specific routine day to day, I just make sure to keep my carbs low and proteins up.
<hr /></blockquote> .

I think this is a good plan, but remember your body gets used to the same thing so every 3-4 days i would load your carbs...about 3x's what you normally do to accelerate you metabalism into a fat burning mode.

When you only do low carbs, day in and day out, your body will begin to get used to it and slow itself down, plus it's not good for your thyroid.
I don't know how low you go, but if it's under 100carbs a day..50-70 perhaps you could definately benefit from the carb load and see some great results.

Use good carbs: oatmeal, yams, brown rice and distribute them evenly throughout your 5-6meals. The next day you'll look great and your muscles will have sucked up all the nutrients!!
Then go back to your regular routine...and begin the cycle again.

Let me know what you think.
Good luck with your training!
Margie

[Annam54]

Ahhhh..thank you so much! I am sorry I took so long to reply...but this advice is great. I just began with a personal trainer last week, so I can know exactly what I am doing ratherthan wasting valuable time!! Things are going great, and the up carbs are exactly what my trainer suggested as well. Again, thanx! /forum/images/icons/smile.gif